Argentine Supreme Court declares Riveros pardon unconstitutional

July 13, 2007

The Supreme Court of Argentina today ruled that a decree issued by the Argentine ex-president Carlos Saúl Menem was unconstitutional. The decree pardoned military general Santiago Omar Riveros, charged for crimes against humanity which were committed during the "Guerra Sucia", a military rule (1976-1983) in Argentina.

The members of the Supreme Court of Justice decided by a majority of four votes the revoke of the pardon towards Riveros. The votes were as follows:


 * Support
 * Ricardo Lorenzetti
 * Juan Carlos Maqueda
 * Eugenio Zaffaroni
 * Elena Highton


 * Oppose
 * Carlos Fayt
 * Carmen Argibay


 * Abstain
 * Enrique Petracchi

The Supreme Court thus retracted the pardon towards Riveros. The ruling also left an open door for the cases of other pardoned generals, such as Jorge Videla and Eduardo Massera.

"Crimes against humanity, because of their seriousness in nature, are not only contrary to the Constitución Nacional, but as well to the entire international community," the Supreme Court ruled. Nearly 30,000 disappeared in the Argentina military dictatiorship.